Epidemiology has met ecology in a new report from the American Academy
of Microbiology.

Based on a colloquium the academy convened last year, the report
discusses the effects of weather and climate factors on the incidence
of infectious disease.

"We can't just focus on the microbe anymore," said Jonathan Patz,
MD, of the Johns Hopkins University Program on Health Effects of Global
Environmental Change. "It is not just a simple relationship between
weather variables and pathogens. We need to connect existing databases
on such factors as land use patterns, deforestation, and soil moisture
to public health outcomes."